Person:John King (211)

The J. Gordon King Family written by Richard W. King, son

Gordon King and wife, Carrie, moved from Walla Walla, Washington, to Castle Rock, Washington, with their sons, Richard Wendell and Howard Gordon, in 1925. The family changed from a life on wheat ranches to earning a livelihood in the logging camps. Gordon King was born in Rathdrum, Idaho, in l894, to a pioneer railroading family which migrated to Walla Walla about 1910. Carrie(Miller)King was born in Walla Walla in February, 1893. Her mother, Icy Waggoner Miller, came to Walla Walla from Illinois at the age of seven in 1879 with her parents, William E. Waggoner and Nancy Kennedy Waggoner. Carrie's father, John R. Miller, was also from a family of early Walla Walla settlers-the late 1800's- which engaged in profitable wheat farming. Quite a change for Gordon and Carrie- from wheat ranching withe use of horses and mules for power, to logging huge Douglas Fir trees with steam "donkey"engines and transporting the logs over mountain railroads. In Castle Rock, their eldest son, Richard (born June, 1918, in Walla Walla) attended second grade at age seven. Their other son, Howard, born in January 1921, was destined to begin first grade the Fall of 1926 at Ostrander Timber Company's Headquarters Camp where the family moved that year. "Headquarters" was only a few miles from Castle Rock but quite a distance transportation-wise for the 15 of 20 families living there. Those wishing to 'go to town,' had to either ride in the cab of the steampowered logging locomotive to Kelso or walk through the woods four or five miles to the end of a gravel road which led to Castle Rock. Gordon worked for Ostrander Timber Company for many years in various capacities - felling timber, setting chokers, and finally owning the contract to cut fuel for the eight or ten steam, wood-burning donkey engines. Since logging operations continued to move away from Headquarters as the timber was harvested, additional transportable camps were wet up to house personnel and families. The Kings moved to 'Camp I" in 1928, living in box-car-like houses that could be transported by railroad tracks. Heating was by barrel-shaped wood-burning stove and lighting was lamps that burned kerosene or gasoline. In these camps Richard and Howard attended grade schools which were also tar-paper covered buildengs, one room and one instructor for all eight grades. Another move farther up the railroad line in 1932 was an improvement - not because of the house, which was still a logging camp "shack" - but because a narrow gravel road was built for access to Castle Rock and the Kings purchased their first car, a 1927 Oldsmobile. Also, the Sightly Grade School, one mile from the logging camp, was an improvement - a two-room permanent building for the eight grades. Finally, in 1933, Gordon King built a small house on a few acres of property three miles from Castle Rock on the Silver Lake Highway (now called Spirit Lace Highway). Richard and Howard att4nded Castle Rock High School where both were active in basketball and other sports. Gordon King continued working for Ostrander Timber Company at Mollala, Oregon, after its logging operations in the State of Washington were discontinued. A serious logging accident about 1940 put an end to this strenuous life style. After that, Gordon owned and operated restaurant-tavern facilities in Kelso, Longview, and Naselle, Washington, and in Portland, Oregon, before completely retiring at Longview, where he passed away in 1968. Carry (Miller) King , at age 88 (in February, 1981) , lives in a small apartment nest to the old Castle Rock High School football field where her sons played ball 45 years ago. She had many years of arising at 2:00 A.M. to cook a substantial breakfast for a hungry logger to work the "hoot-owl" shift; nights by lamplight repairing hard-used clothes; years of keeping track of two active sons' equipment; years of living in near camping-out conditions. Now, 56 years later (in 1981) the circle of many moves has been completed - only two blocks from a small rental house in the alley across the street from the then brandnew Castle Rock City Hall which was the King's first home in Western Washington in 1925.

From History of Cowlitz County Washington